Palermo cathedral and its palm gardens

Palermo's cathedral was begun in 1185 on the site of a mosque and has been added to for seven centuries, which is why no two parts of it match: Norman towers, an Arab inscription still carved on a column, Catalan Gothic porches, and an eighteenth-century dome. It is the clearest single illustration of what Sicily is.

The practical gift here is space. Unlike most Italian cathedrals, this one stands well back from the street behind a walled garden of palms, so you can step far enough away to fit it in without a wide lens, and the low garden wall gives a natural place to sit. The honey-coloured stone faces roughly north-east, so it takes clean early light in the morning and goes into soft shade in the afternoon while the sky behind stays bright.

The garden and forecourt are public and free at all hours; the interior, treasury and roof terraces are ticketed with their own opening times worth checking. The roof walk gives an unusual overhead view of the city, but it is a narrow stair. The street in front is busy, so keep group compositions inside the garden rather than on the pavement.